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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Zen of Weeding


I like weeding. I enjoy the time spent.  Am i crazy? Or even a little masochistic? I shove the weeding tool down by the roots, give a little prying action, then grab the weed and pull. It’s a part of the gardening experience.
Weeds are nature’s design to leave no bare spaces. Nature fills in. Voids are taboo. And so the weeds have entered into the spaces. Enter the weeds.
like empty canvas
nature fills the vacant space
so, enter the weeds
Weeding takes focus. All of my attention. It is a sort of meditation. Meditation is about being here, right now. Not thinking of either past or future. I pluck the weed and make sure the roots come out with it.
A healthy patch of weeds
i have great respect
for all nature's weedy gifts
yet, the weeds must go
Weeds are a good sign. They mean we did our job with manuring and getting the compost around. This year they are looking fat and healthy. To the compost pile they go, completing a cycle of growth to waste and waste to growth.
as veggies are picked
spaces in garden return
so enter the weeds
Herman Hesse wrote Siddhartha, a book about spiritual seeking and enlightenment. Sidhartha had his most enlightened time as a ferryman on the river. He had left the spiritual orders and religious teachers to spend his days listening to the river and ferrying people. He had stopped seeking answers. He felt no need to seek, just to be.
the garden thrives
with great bounty to sustain
without weeds for now

Weeding Is just weeding. There is no past and no future. There is the garden, the weeds and me. Pulling weeds by hand is not a chore and not something to avoid. It is my meditation. I don't need to think about anything. Just pluck ‘em out. The zen of weeding. -G.H.

1 comment:

  1. I was told that you never want to compost weeds, because when you spread the compost, you're planting weeds! What do you think, Gil? Nice post, though...

    ReplyDelete